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Summary of 2011
Due to the late Easter the fixture calendar became very difficult to manage and there were a number of clashes of events, however, we managed to attend most of our traditional fixtures. The first match was in the first week of term and the boys travelled away to Charterhouse for a 6-school fixture against Dulwich, Lord Wandsworth, Highgate, Pangbourne and Charterhouse. Wellington won the event convincingly overall and won all but the Junior Boys where we were placed 2nd. Considering it was the first week of term there some notable performances from Odi Akinrele (M) (Senior Boys 100m – 11.2s), James Harris (Bl) (Senior Boys 800m – 2:01.4s) and Gus Ide (L) (Senior Boys Jav – 46.65m).
The second fixture was our home fixture at Bracknell, The Copenhagen Shield, against Brighton, Epsom, Marlborough, Cranleigh and Hurstpierpoint. This proved a much sterner test of our abilities and a strong Brighton girls and boys team won the day with 651 points. Wellington was very well placed in 2nd with 597 points and Epsom 3rd with 594 points (a very good scalp to have). The Inter Boys and Junior Girls did very well to win their own age group against some strong competition. For the Inter Girls Louisa Schulte-Bockum (Hn) broke two school records and won both the 200m (27.51s) and 300m (43.95s) and for the Junior Girls Morgan Lake (Hn) set new school records in winning the Shot (11.92m), High Jump (1.45m), 75m Hurdles (11.61s) and 4x100m Relay. The boys also performed well, particularly in the middle distance events where James Harris (Bl), Felix Fowler (Bn), Milo Gore (S), Jack Griggs (Pn), Alistair Wilson (M) and James Robinson (R) all recorded first places.
The next event was a boys fixture at Radley against Radley, Harrow, Lord Wandsworth, Pangbourne, Abingdon, Dean Close, Cheltenham, Eton and St Edwards. Unfortunately we started to lose significant numbers of athletes due to IB exams, so we arrived at Radley without full teams. However, there some determined performances in windy conditions the boys were 3rd overall.
Two days later the boys competed in a new fixture, the Epsom Multi-event, where a team of 5 athletes had to compete in a minimum of three and a maximum of five events including a 4 x 400m relay. The scores according to decathlon tables were then aggregated. This proved very popular, even amongst those who were unfamiliar with running 800m. Impressive scores from Tom Inglis (Bd), Henry Johnston (S) and Milo Gore (S) in the Inter Boys ensured a win over Epsom. However, despite high scores from Jack Corsan (S) (Seniors) and Jack Griggs (Pn) (Juniors) the Seniors and Juniors came second. Meanwhile the girls has a similar multi-event hosted by St Johns, Leatherhead against Eastbourne, Cranleigh and St Johns. It was unfortunate that we were missing our UK Indoor and Outdoor U15 UK champion and UK record holder for the pentathlon (Morgan Lake (Hn)). However, our Junior Girls still posted a very impressive win with Tilly Edwards (C) scoring the highest total of all the Junior Girls.
The traditional fixture at Eton, The Lord Burghley Trophy against Eton, St Paul’s, Epsom, Tonbridge, Charterhouse, Pangbourne and Haileybury was disappointing from a team perspective (5th overall) due to the pupil’s exam commitments, however, there were some excellent performances and school records broken by James Harris (Bl) (2000m s/c), the Senior Boys 4 x 400m Relay (M Sole (Bl), J Harris (Bl), J Corsan (S), P Davidge (Hg)) as well as the Inter Boys 4 x 400m Relay (A Haydon-Soutar (R), M Gore (S), F Fowler (Bn), S Corsan (S)).
For the first time in recent history, Wellington’s 3rd and 4th Forms participated in the Wokingham District Schools Championships. This was part of the selection process into the County Schools Championships. Whilst the performances were generally below personal bests, there were many gold, silver and bronze medals won by the girls and boys. Of note were a silver by Milly Lloyd-Williams (C) (Junior Girls 75m Hurdles - 12.4s) and Jack Griggs (Pn) (Junior Boys 1500m – 4:36s). In the County Schools, Morgan Lake (Hn)and Tilly Edwards (C) secured first and second in the Junior Girls Long Jump with jumps of 5:35m and 4.90m respectively, Morgan went on to be selected to represent Berkshire Schools in the National Schools. Jack Griggs (Pn) also gained valuable experience on how not to run such an uneven paced 1500m but he still had the strength to hang on to a very creditable first place. James Harris (Bl) also achieved a personal goal of running under 2 minutes for the 800m for the first time.
The last match of the season was at Marlborough against Marlborough, Clifton, Kingswood, Oakham, and Harrow. It was unfortunate that this was the same day as the Boughey Run, which is an intra school race from The Porters’ Lodge to Swan Lake and back again. The objective is to complete the race within the noon chimes of The College clock. All the serious middle distance athletes competed and where exhausted by the time they arrived at Marlborough. Jack Corsan (S) won the Boughey Run and managed the feat of reaching the arches of Great Gate by the last strike of the clock for the first time in history. The girls winner was Jo-Jo Blunt (Hn). As a consequence of The Boughey Run our Marlborough results were less than expected, however, Wellington won the Junior and Inter Girls as well as the Inter Boys. Outstanding performances and new records were set by Louisa Schulte-Bockum (Hn) in the Inter Girls 200m and 300m and Sophie Edwards (C) in the Senior Girls 100m Hurdles.
With 3 new boys records, 14 new girls records, very strong Inter and Junior Girls and very strong Inter Boys squad makes for an exciting prospect for 2012.